CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina mayor says her city will not compromise on its equality law allowing transgender people to use the restroom of the gender with which they identify.

The Charlotte Observer reports (http://bit.ly/1XmWhuP) that Mayor Jennifer Roberts told the city’s most influential LGBT supporters Wednesday the city council will not back off its equal rights ordinance.

The Charlotte ordinance prompted North Carolina lawmakers to approve legislation requiring people in government buildings to use bathrooms that match the sex on their birth certificates.

The state law has been widely criticized. Top legislative leaders are reported to have met privately with Roberts about defusing the national backlash against the law.

Legislative leaders have suggested that if Charlotte repealed its nondiscrimination ordinance, the General Assembly might change the much-criticized state law.